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Development Lead

OpenAI· Scaling
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Remote$225k - $385kFull-timePosted 1mo ago

About the role

Development Lead role responsible for the development path after site screening, coordinating power pathways, permitting, and execution planning to enable building-level deployment and handoff through design, construction, and operations.

Responsibilities

  • Own the stage-gate path from exclusivity and commercial terms through desktop diligence, confirmatory diligence, site closing, and handoff into design, construction, and operations.
  • Validate power pathways with Power and utility partners, including service options, interconnection and delivery sequencing, readiness assumptions, schedule exposure, cost implications, and decision points.
  • Turn each development phase into a disciplined action list with owners, deadlines, closure criteria, open evidence, and escalation paths; drive the list to closure rather than simply reporting status.
  • Translate power, land, civil, environmental, access, entitlement, and permitting constraints into a building-level deployment plan with clear sequencing and target deployment timing for each building.
  • Coordinate site access, exclusivity, LOI, commercial terms, financing assumptions, and closing requirements with Commercial, Legal, Finance, Power, Land, and other partner teams.
  • Define the desktop diligence scope, expected 15–30 day deliverables, and go / no-go criteria; govern the 90–120 day confirmatory diligence plan.
  • Set and track ECDs for easements, offsite improvements, well and pipeline locating, environmental studies, water-well testing, geotechnical reports, additional land, incentives, and other site-specific workstreams.
  • Scope and manage diligence vendors and consultants, tying outputs to decisions, schedule, cost, action-list closure, and residual risk.
  • Maintain the integrated development schedule, budget implications, dependency tracker, risk register, mitigation plan, and executive escalation cadence.
  • Deliver executive-ready advance, defer, or stop recommendations and prepare the readiness package for transition into design, construction, and operations.

Qualifications

  • 6+ years in land development, infrastructure development, data center development, energy-project development, electrical, mechanical, civil or environmental engineering, or related project delivery.
  • Experience advancing large-scale facility programs through early planning, power validation, phased development, site closing, and readiness handoff.
  • Strong ability to evaluate power pathways and translate utility, interconnection, and delivery findings into schedule, cost, and deployment implications.
  • Highly organized operator who can convert ambiguous diligence into owner-based action lists, closure criteria, critical paths, and executive decisions.

Skills

Required:Stage-gate process managementPower pathway validationDiligence planning and execution

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
  • Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
  • 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
  • Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
  • Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
  • 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time
  • Mental health and wellness support
  • Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
  • Annual learning and development stipend
  • Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
  • Relocation support for eligible employees
  • Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends
Last updated Sep 17, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About OpenAI

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Company profileWebsite

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